


Holidaying

by writingfanficlikeabus



Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Asexual Character, Bisexual Female Character, F/F, F/M, feel a bit bad tagging jamie in this given he doesn't really DO anything. he sure is there!, no serious homophobia BUT 60s attitudes/legality are both referenced, we love and appreciate him anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:27:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25166182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writingfanficlikeabus/pseuds/writingfanficlikeabus
Summary: Team TARDIS attempts to take a holiday. It goes wrong. Ben and Polly work out a few things along the way.
Relationships: Ben Jackson/Polly Wright, Polly Wright/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 13





	Holidaying

Ben picked up the drink in front of him, sniffed it, and made a face.

"Come on," Polly said to him. "Drink up."

"Pol, it's bright pink."

"Why does that matter?"

"It's got _bits_ in it."

Polly set down her own drink and sighed. "Look if you didn't want to come here with me you could've just said so. I'm sure Jamie and the Doctor wouldn't have minded an extra person coming with them to explore the marketplace - and anyway, I can look after myself," she added, anticipating his objection.

"Yeah, but what if something goes wrong?" Ben asked. "I don't want to leave you on your own then , do I?"

"Nothing will go wrong."

"Something always goes wrong," Ben observed gloomily. Polly didn't reply to that.

He stole another glance at the drink. It didn't look more appealing a second time round. He could've sworn the bits he'd spotted before were moving about under their own steam.

The pub was fairly empty. They'd been told, coming in, that this was because at midday most of the local people were haggling for prices in the market which opened at twelve, or else taking advantage of the quiet in other parts of the city to have a siesta. The pub only didn't shut about now because of tourist interest. (The proprietor noted this smugly, as though he thought himself particularly skilled for observing that visitors often liked to eat at the exact time most of his competitors were out of action. He didn't seem to mind the loss of a nap, and he had a boy to buy things for him.) Good for them - or at least for Polly - that it hadn't, though. And if Polly wanted to go and taste the local beverages in an effort to 'experience the culture' then it sort of made sense for Ben to go off with her while Jamie and the Doctor wandered down to the marketplace together, with the agreement that they'd meet up back at the TARDIS later on.

"You know, you really should try this, Ben," Polly said. She'd almost finished her drink already. Ben watched her carefully in case there were any sudden and unpleasant side effects. Although they'd told the bartender that they were humans ("oh yes, we have lots of those around here nowadays"), he still wasn't sure he trusted the man to have given them something safe for their species to drink. Polly caught him looking and laughed.

"Oh come on, Ben," she said. "I'm not going to explode after drinking it."

Ben looked away, feeling suddenly self-conscious and out of place. So maybe he did worry about Polly too much. It wasn't his fault that she threw herself into everything like this. And anyway, travelling with the Doctor could be pretty dangerous to begin with. Was it wrong of him to be cautious?

Well, if she didn't like it -

It wasn't really any of his business. She'd probably tell him to stop acting like an overprotective boyfriend if he brought it up, which wasn't true - he knew there wasn't anything between them. Friends maybe, and even that would've been unsure, if they hadn't ended up hopping on board the TARDIS together. Polly had made it clear enough that she wasn't interested in anything else - especially recently, when she'd started avoiding or shutting down every attempt he'd made to express his own feelings.

Ben looked at the drink, muttered, "To hell with it," held his nose, and tipped it back in almost one gulp.

After a few seconds, and when he was certain that he wasn't about to start dying, he allowed himself to relax.

"See, that wasn't so bad," Polly said smugly.

Maybe it was relief that made Ben smile so easily. But Polly was looking in another direction now, her attention caught by a woman sitting near the opposite wall. Ben's smile faded. He stared at the now visible bottom of his glass, feeling stupid for even taking notice. He recognised that look of hers; it was obvious Polly had her own preferences. And even though she was his friend, and he was determined not to think any the worse of her, that didn't mean he _liked_ to see her giving the eyes to somebody else.

"What's the matter?" Polly, turning back to him, had noticed his sudden drop in mood. She rested her head on the table so she could look up and meet his eyes.

Ben turned away. "Nothing."

"Oh, _nothing_ ," Polly said, imitating his tone. She passed around to his other side. Ben turned away again. "I'm serious, Ben. What's the problem?"

"Look, Pol, don't worry about me. Go on over to that alien bird if you want. I don't mind." He tried to sound supportive, but he must have been too vague about it because Polly just looked confused. "Well you fancy her, don't you? I don't have anything against it; I'll just head back to the TARDIS and let you two talk."

"You think -" Polly stared at him. Then she shook her head. "Oh, no, Ben, I'm not like that. It's men all the way for me."

Ben scowled. If Polly thought he couldn't tell when… It wasn't exactly the same expression that his mates in the navy got when they saw a girl they liked the look of, but it wasn't far off. And this wasn't the first time he'd spotted it on her face either. Not as though she was hiding it. But now she was pretending like -

Well, okay, so maybe she didn't want to tell him yet. That was _fine_ , he told himself firmly, even if it stung a little. A lot. He was about to say something else when he saw that the woman they'd been talking about was walking over to join them both.

"Hello," she said. "Are you holidaying here?"

"Yes," Polly answered, jumping in before Ben could say anything. "Sort of, anyway. We're just here for the day."

"And you're spending it in a bar?" she asked in mock disapproval. "That's no way to do things. You need to spice things up a bit. Bring some excitement into your trip."

 _We've got enough excitement in our lives already, thanks very much,_ Ben thought.

"We didn't exactly know where to look," Polly said. "We're complete strangers here."

"But surely you planned your visit beforehand?"

"One of our other friends got us here," Ben told her. He was starting to feel like an afterthought to the conversation. "He's a bit of a rubbish driver."

"Oh, I see," the woman said, although it was obvious she didn't. "So you don't know what to expect from Tenna at all."

 _Is that what this place's called,_ Ben thought. He was a bit embarrassed not to have known, although it wasn't really his fault. Not like the Doctor had told them. Or _ever_ told them, for that matter.

"I can show you around if you want me to. I'm a native; I know all the places they won't show you on the official tourist brochures." She leaned in conspiratorially as she spoke. 

_No, actually, we're fine,_ Ben wanted to say, but Polly came out with,

"Oh yes, we'd love that - wouldn't we, Ben?"

\- before he could get a word in edgeways.

"Don't you think we should wait for the Doctor and Jamie to get back before we go off God knows where?" he asked. He was wary of going any further away from the TARDIS than they were at the moment, knowing from bitter experience how easy it was to become separated from it.

"You don't have to come along with us if you don't want to," Polly shot back.

Ben's eyes moved between her and the other woman. He was tempted - part of him really was tempted to just go back to the TARDIS on his own and wait, or else try track down Jamie and the Doctor in the marketplace. He wondered if that was what Polly wanted him to do. But he didn't like the idea of none of them - none of the three of them - knowing properly where Polly was. He'd developed a healthy distrust of wandering off alone on alien planets.

"No, I'll come with you," he said reluctantly.

"There's no need to sound so enthusiastic," Polly said sarcastically.

"Look, I just -" Ben broke off.

"What?"

"Never mind." He held out his hand to the woman. "I'm Ben and this is Polly." Then it occurred to him that they might not greet people the same way on this planet and let his hand fall to his side.

"You needn't worry about that," she said. "I've run into a lot of humans in my time. I'm Alea. It's very nice to meet you." And she took his hand, but - Ben was certain - she was looking at Polly, not him, when she smiled.

* * *

"Look, Duchess," Ben said once they'd stepped out of the bar, pulling her aside. "Are you sure this's a good idea?"

Polly gave him an exasperated look. "Ben, _honestly._ We're not about to be mobbed just because we go a little further away from the TARDIS."

"I just don't want to -"

"We'll be _fine_."

"We don't even know this woman!" Ben exclaimed, struggling to keep his voice low. Polly stared at him, confused. Then comprehension came into her eyes.

"Is this about what you said earlier?" she asked. "I've already told you that I'm not like that. I wish you'd believe me." Ben opened his mouth to say something, perhaps to protest that he wasn't jealous, just worried, but Polly didn't stop to let him answer. Instead she began to walk towards Alea, who was waiting for them a little distance away. But the idea must have still been bothering her because she turned back to him again and said,

"Anyway, I don't know why _you're_ acting jealous about it. It's not as though you even like girls."

"What -" Ben was interrupted by the sound of a commotion.

All three of them stopped to listen.

"There's something going on in the marketplace," Alea said nervously. "We should leave before it gets serious."

"But that's where Jamie and the Doctor went!" exclaimed Polly.

"Yeah, I know," Ben said. He frowned, made a decision. "You wait here." And with that he sprinted down the street towards the noise.

Polly harrumphed. " _Well_ ," she said. "How do you like that?" She began to walk after him.

"Where are you going?" Alea asked her. She took a few steps down the path towards Polly.

"After Ben. I'm not going to let him have all the fun. And to think he was just talking about how dangerous it was to run off!"

"That's not a good idea," Alea said.

Polly turned back to her, ready to argue. She was startled by how frightened the other woman looked.

"What's the matter?" Polly asked.

Alea gave her a thin-lipped smile, an obvious attempt to hide her fear. "Oh, nothing. But don't you think your friend will be able to handle himself just fine on his own? He seemed pretty capable." She took Polly's arm. "Why don't the two of us go on a little further without him? I'd like to spend some time getting to know you. Maybe without your friend tagging along. Just the two of us." She blushed, aware of how awkward she seemed. "Of course, if you're…"

Her meaning didn't immediately sink in. Polly frowned, trying to work out what she meant. Then her brow cleared.

" _Oh,_ " she said. "I see. Ben was right. He thought - I'm very sorry, Alea, but I think you must have misunderstood me. I wasn't trying to flirt; I was only being friendly."

Alea's face fell. 

"You and Ben -" she began, but she was cut off by the sound of thundering feet.

The next moment Ben, Jamie, and the Doctor came haring around the corner.

"RUN!" Ben roared. He grabbed Polly by the arm as he sprinted past her and the two of them ran down the street together. Alea had broken away and was already ahead of them; she signalled that they should follow her.

"What happened?" Polly asked - gasped out, because they were moving faster now, and she could hear something behind her that didn't make her want to look back.

"I don't know!" Ben yelled back. He had to yell now, over the noise. "One minute it was just a few blokes giving Jamie some trouble and the next minute the whole bleedin' square was after us!"

"But the TARDIS is in the other direction!"

"I know!"

Alea rounded the corner ahead of them. A few seconds later they turned it as well and she was back in sight again, holding a door open for them. They raced through and she shut it after them, blocking the crowd as they had almost reached it. Then she barricaded it, grabbing anything with some sort of weight which might prevent people from getting in. There were a fair number of items that fitted the description, and Polly wondered if she had experience with this sort of thing.

"Thank you," the Doctor said once he'd got his breath back, "Miss, uh -"

"Alea," she said. "Did you not read the signs at the space port?"

"We - ah - we came by a slightly _different_ route," the Doctor told her. "Tell me - what did these signs say?"

"They were _warning_ you," Alea said exasperatedly, "to make sure you picked up a psychic blocker before you stepped out onto the planet. The people here are very sensitive to emotional states! If one of you was feeling argumentative or angry in any way, then that would've had a knock on effect. With that many people in one place it could increase the emotion ten times over."

"Why didn't it affect you, then?" Polly asked. "You're from this planet as well, aren't you?"

Alea didn't reply. Instead she told them,

"It'll probably take some time for them to go away and calm down. You might not want to leave for a while after that either, just in case the effect hasn't faded completely."

"We’re very grateful for your help," the Doctor said, shaking her hand enthusiastically. "Aren't we?"

"Oh, aye."

"Yes, definitely."

"Yeah," Ben said. "Thanks." He looked slightly shamefaced, and glanced about the place to hide it. "Uh - what about the windows?"

"Reinforced," Alea said. "They won't be able to get in that way either."

"If they're so out of control won't they hurt each other?" Polly asked.

"Oh, no. There's no need to worry about that. As the instigators, the only thing they'll be focused on is your friends here."

"Well, then." The Doctor clapped his hands together and beamed. "That's all settled. All we need to do now is find some way of occupying ourselves while we wait all this out."

Ben's eyes travelled between Polly and Alea, but he looked away before they could notice.

* * *

"I'm very sorry that we've descended on you like this," Polly said to Alea. Ben, Jamie and the Doctor had managed to discover some alien board game and were in the process of deciphering the instructions for it, but when Polly had seen Alea sitting on her own she'd excused herself from the group and gone to join her.

"Don't worry about it," Alea said. "Believe me, you're not the first. And at least the four of you have some sort of excuse. I've had people before who've said they didn't bother with a blocker because they didn't think it was necessary, that they could regulate their emotions perfectly well. The government's thinking of putting in a law against that kind of thing but it's very hard to check every single person to make sure they've got one on, and it's only really noticeably a problem when it's a strong emotion that can disrupt the day to day workings of things. In this case, anger."

"Look, Jamie," Ben's voice came from behind them, "you can't just do something like that, it's cheating."

"Is that right? An' who are you to say what I can and cannae do?"

"It's not me, it says right in the instruction booklet!"

"You never told me why you weren't affected," Polly pointed out.

"Oh. Didn't I?"

"No."

"Huh." Alea was lost in thought for a while. Then she said, carefully,

"I'm sorry for - misreading you, earlier. I have some difficulty distinguishing other people's emotions from my own," she hurried on before Polly could reply. "You see, I'm - underdeveloped, I suppose. I don't _know_ things in the same way. I can feel what other people are feeling, but not as strongly, and I can get confused."

"I don't see that that's such a problem today," Polly said. "I mean, without your help we would've been stuck." So Alea _had_ been flirting with her. She'd wondered briefly if the other woman had only been trying to find a method of surreptitiously leading her away from the marketplace, and felt strangely relieved to find that it hadn't just been some desperate act.

"Why don't we all try to stay calm?" the Doctor was saying. "You know what happens if you get too frustrated here."

"That's easy for you to say, Doctor," Ben replied. "You're way behind. Me and Jamie are neck and neck."

"Your friend," Alea said. "Ben. I was going to ask before. Are you -"

"Oh, no." Polly stole a glance over her shoulder to make sure Ben wasn't listening, but he was still absorbed in the game. "I did _think_ \- but I suppose _I_ misread _him_. He's not - _interested_ \- in women. But now for some reason he's got it into his head that _I_ am. Which I'm not, of course."

"Why 'of course'?" Alea asked.

Polly remembered that it hadn't been obvious for her, and she was probably still a little embarrassed about misinterpreting Polly's interest.

"I'm sorry," she told Alea. "I didn't mean that in a negative way. Ben and I - where we're from it's not so acceptable. It's illegal between men, actually. But _I_ don't -" She stopped. "Oh dear. I'm explaining it in all the wrong way. I only wanted to say that I suppose I'm still getting used to the idea of it being expressed so openly. A lot of people on my - world - would take it as an insult if someone thought they might be - well - and so I'm used to people never even thinking _I_ would -" She ground to an awkward halt, looking slightly pink. "I'm sorry. I don't _usually_ get this embarrassed. I can't think what's come over me."

"I didn't realise there were any human colonies where same gender relations were outlawed," Alea said.

"We come from a _very_ long way away."

"I see," Alea said. "I'm sorry. It must be a terrible place to live."

"Oh, it's not so -" Polly began, and then stopped. It was a strange thing to say, _it's not so bad_ , when she'd just told Alea that male homosexuality was illegal where she came from.

"See, Jamie," Ben's voice, smugly triumphant, drifted over. "I _was_ right."

* * *

Alea peered out through the window.

"They seem to have gone away," she said. "But I can still feel something in this area - I'm not sure exactly what. It's probably best if you stay the night. I have some mattresses I can put out in the front room."

"What, all of us together?" Ben asked. He glanced over at Polly nervously. 

"Yes, it's rather like a sleepover, isn't it?" the Doctor said with a smile, clapping his hands together.

"Oh, aye," said Jamie, who didn't know what the Doctor was talking about. 

"Well I'm not sleeping with the boys," Polly said indignantly. "Isn't there anywhere else I could stay?"

"Not really," Alea told her, sounding a little guilty.

"I mean, couldn't I share your room with you or something?"

Ben cleared his throat awkwardly.

"If it's alright," Polly added. She ignored Ben's reaction.

Alea debated this with herself.

"Alright," she said at last. "Only I -"

"That's wonderful," Polly said, and Alea didn’t get to finish what she was going to say.

* * *

Polly woke up. At first she couldn't figure out why - had she heard a noise? But after a few seconds her mind began to work properly, and she realised that the room, which should've been pitch black, was lit by a faint glow.

She sat up, her eyes casting around to find the source of the light. Spotting it, she blinked and rubbed her eyes in an effort to shake the last of sleep off.

"Oh," she said quietly.

Alea shifted slightly in the bed and the pattern of the glow changed. Polly couldn't take her eyes off her. It was one of the most beautiful sights she'd ever seen.

Alea shifted again and opened her eyes. She saw Polly looking.

"I'm sorry," she said. "Did I wake you?"

"Yes," Polly admitted. "But I don't mind."

Alea sat up properly, closed her eyes and began to breath heavily. After a few seconds the glow faded.

"There," she said, embarrassed. "Now you can go back to sleep. I'm sorry I didn't warn you about that, but then you interrupted me and I thought, well, maybe it won't show up tonight and I won't have to tell her. It doesn't, not every night. It used to much more when I was a child, but I can control it a bit better now." She gave a short, self-conscious laugh. "I'm sorry, I'm rambling."

"Can everyone on this planet do that?" Polly asked. She wanted to ask Alea to turn the glow back on, but she was worried she'd come off as rude.

"No, it's, um -" Alea started to glow again, very faintly, and she had to stop to calm herself down a second time. "It's part of my - regulation problems. The ones I told you about. Luckily now it really only happens at night. Most people here think it's weird. You see, we're _supposed_ to shift colour based on our own individual emotion, which is helpful when you're usually dealing with the feelings of multiple people in the same area. But I just - do weird things instead."

"You're kidding!" Polly exclaimed. "That's not weird at all. I think it's fab."

"Fab?"

"Oh, I mean it's sort of…impressive. You'd be the life of any party with a trick like that where I'm from."

"Oh." Alea pulled her legs up close to her. "We don't like calling that sort of attention to ourselves so much here. It's seen as…embarrassing. Unattractive."

"Well that's obviously rubbish," Polly said indignantly. For some reason she couldn't help thinking of the conversation she'd had with Ben earlier. _Well you fancy her, don't you?_ It was probably because she was tired, or something.

But Alea _was_ very beautiful. Not that that meant anything. There were plenty of beautiful women out there, many that Polly had noted herself, but that didn't mean she wanted to -

It was ridiculous that she was justifying herself to Ben even when he wasn't there, she thought to herself angrily. Anyway, he hadn't meant any harm by it; he'd just misunderstood. So she didn't need to explain herself or her opinions to anyone.

"I think you're very attractive," she heard herself saying. She couldn't believe that anyone would look at this woman and decide that, because she lit up at night sometimes, she was ugly.

"Thank you," Alea said eventually, after a silence so long that Polly began to think she'd said something wrong.

"And you're _definitely_ not embarrassing," Polly continued firmly. "Anyone who tells you that isn't worth listening to."

"I appreciate your support," Alea replied, a little amused. "I'm sorry again for waking you like that."

"Oh, that's alright," Polly said. "I don't mind. I like talking to you." She was feeling strange; even though she was still tired from the day, she was sure now that she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. She was agitated, excited without an apparent source for it. Her mind was on Ben; what Ben had said to her was going around and around in her head.

Polly moved closer to the bed.

The image of Alea, shining, felt like it would stay in her thoughts forever, nestled among her dearest memories.

"You said you - misread - me," she said haltingly. "Earlier, I mean."

"Yes," Alea replied. "I…confused my own feelings for yours. That was my mistake."

"So, you…"

"I find you attractive," Alea said frankly.

And Polly, buoyed up on adrenaline and the intimacy of the night and the idea that Ben had planted in her head with his words, crossed the final gap between them and kissed her.

* * *

Ben was feeling restless. He almost went to see Polly in her room but something held him back; he told himself that it was because he didn't want to wake her up. Maybe that was part of the reason.

Instead he walked into Alea's front room and began to pace. It didn't help much. This was something much deeper down than a simple need to move, or even a desire to return to the TARDIS.

He hadn't had a chance to speak to Polly, not in a proper, one on one way, since before the disturbance in the marketplace had happened. Now he puzzled over her words.

_It's not like you're interested in me._

He was reminded of back home. Not that it had ever been really bad, he reassured himself, but he'd always been conscious of a slight difference in his relationships with women compared to the other boys his age. It hadn't ever crossed his mind that he might be gay as a kid, if he'd even been aware of that as a possibility outside of the vaguest ideas about odd, outcast boys. But he knew there were certain things expected of him, as a man, and he'd been fine pretending a bit. He'd grown used to it. It wasn't like he was completely un-attracted to women, anyway. Maybe all blokes acted some of it, the physical bit, to keep up appearances or to show off.

Although she'd got the wrong idea from it, Polly was the first woman he'd been serious about to really pick up on everything. He should've expected that; after all, by necessity they spent a lot more time together, on and off the TARDIS, than any other woman he'd been with.

Except he wasn't 'with' Polly. He was interested in her and she wasn't interested back, simple as that.

He turned again and almost ran into a shadowy figure. He began to cry out, but then the figure said,

"It's alright, Ben; it's only me."

"Bloody hell, Doctor! Warn a man next time, won't you?"

"I'm sorry, I thought you'd seen me."

"Yeah, well obviously not. What's the matter?"

"Does there need to be something the matter?" The Doctor reached to his right to switch the light on. Ben blinked, his eyes adjusting.

"I don’t need much sleep, Ben," the Doctor continued. He settled himself down on the sofa. "And Jamie has begun to snore rather loudly. So I thought I would get up and stretch my legs." He caught Ben's expression. "Is something wrong?"

"It's nothing," Ben said, and then a second later, "I think I've upset Polly."

The Doctor patted the space beside him. "Why don't you tell me all about it?" He beamed good-naturedly. Ben was reminded, vaguely, of a storybook character - a kindly uncle or grandfather, the sort of person you'd always be able to confide in.

So he did. He sat down on the sofa next to the Doctor and told him exactly what had happened, from his point of view.

Once he'd finished the Doctor said,

"I'm sure if the two of you talk to each other then it will work itself out."

"But I tried that!" Ben said. "I told her, look Duchess, I honestly don't mind it if you've got a preference for the ladies. I mean, it's not like this is the first time I've noticed it. I just wanted her to know that it was fine by me."

"Ah," the Doctor said sagely, "but you must realise, Ben, that Polly might not be ready to tell you something like that yet."

"Yeah, but I don't get why not. She knows she can trust me, doesn't she? And I told her I wouldn't mind."

"Yes, but it's not always as simple as that." The Doctor shifted so that he was facing Ben more fully. "It can be difficult to tell someone a secret you've been holding onto for a long time, especially when you come from a culture as frequently closeminded as yours and Polly's."

"Closeminded?"

"Well, you have to admit, Ben -"

"Yeah, yeah, alright. I get it."

"Besides, she might not know herself. Not everyone realises that sort of thing at a very young age."

"So what do you reckon I should do?"

"Don't push her. Wait until she comes to you with this. In the meantime, since it's worrying you so much, I suggest you try to explain some of your own feelings to her before this miscommunication between the two of you gets too serious."

Ben was silent.

"It will work itself out in the end, Ben," the Doctor told him gently. "These things usually do."

"Yeah, alright," Ben said. "Maybe." He stood up. "I'm going back to bed. Night, Doctor. Thanks."

"Goodnight, Ben," the Doctor said. "And please, try not to let this bother you too much."

* * *

The next time Ben opened his eyes it was morning. From the noise he could tell that the Doctor was already up and about - or perhaps he'd never gone back to sleep. Ben did wonder, sometimes.

Alea was awake as well from the sound of it, and as she moved about in the kitchen she was answering the questions the Doctor threw at her.

Ben glanced over at Jamie. Still fast asleep. He resisted the urge to prod him awake; he'd tried it once before and had immediately regretted it.

The door to Alea's room was shut and Ben took this to mean that Polly hadn't woken up yet either. He stood up and made his way into the kitchen. The Doctor looked over at him and smiled.

"Ah, you're awake!" he exclaimed. "Very good. Alea here was just answering a few questions I had about the culture here. It's one thing to read about it, quite another to speak with someone native to the society." He looked delighted. Well at least someone was happy.

Ben turned towards Alea. "We're good to go then now?" he asked. He half expected her to say no, that something else had gone wrong. It came as a relief when she nodded.

"Oh yes," she said. "I just thought I'd make you some breakfast first. As a way to send you off."

"Right." Ben continued to stand there, slightly awkwardly. He felt like he should say something. "Look - thanks for taking us in like this. I'm sorry for being rude yesterday." It came out stilted, as though he was reading from a script. Ben had to make an effort not to wince.

"Were you?" she asked, glancing up from whatever it was she was doing. "I hadn't noticed, really."

"Oh." He could think of nothing else to say. At that moment Polly walked into the kitchen.

"Good morning," she said cheerfully, beaming at Alea. Then she noticed Ben was there as well.

"Morning," he said.

She blushed slightly, but recovered herself quickly. "Did you sleep well?" she asked.

"Fine, thanks." He didn't mention his conversation with the Doctor, but he was thinking about it the whole time. "Pol -"

But just then Jamie walked in, complaining that no-one had bothered to wake him up, and Ben couldn't finish his sentence.

* * *

Polly held onto Alea for as long as she could, taking in the scent and feel of her.

"Goodbye," she said again. "I'll miss you."

"You could stay here for a little longer," Alea suggested, pulling out of the embrace to look Polly in the face. "I wouldn't mind."

"Oh no, we'd better be getting on," Polly said. "The Doctor will be impatient to leave. And since he's my ticket home - eventually, I hope - I should make sure I get on board with him."

"Of course, I understand," Alea said, sounding a little disappointed. She quickly recovered. "Maybe I'll see you again sometime."

"Maybe," Polly replied, feeling awkward. "Look - even if we don't meet you have to promise to be a little kinder to yourself. Just think: if you'd been like everyone else you wouldn't have been able to help us yesterday."

Alea smiled. "I'll try," she said. "The Doctor told me he thinks change is coming just around the corner for us here, but he might just be saying that."

"He could also be right," Polly said. "He often is, surprisingly."

"Here's hoping." Alea leaned forwards to kiss Polly on the cheek. "Goodbye. I'm glad I met you, whether I see you again or not."

* * *

The TARDIS dematerialised. Ben sat on his bed and stretched his limbs. It was good to be - well, maybe not home, but the closest thing any of them had to it at the moment. Somewhere familiar and away from danger, at least.

There was a knock at the door. Polly.

"Can I come in?" she asked.

Ben tried to ignore the feeling of uncomfortable self-consciousness that stole over him when she asked that. "Go ahead," he said.

There was a chair tucked under the dressing table on one side of the room. Ben pulled it out so that Polly could sit on it. He perched on the edge of the bed, unable to ignore the greater sensation of intimacy that talking there brought with it.

"I'm sorry -" they both said at the same time. Polly laughed.

"You go first," she said.

"I'm sorry for being so nosy yesterday, Pol," Ben said. "And for being so suspicious around Alea."

"I'm sorry too," Polly replied. "For - making assumptions about you, if that offended you, and for getting so defensive about…well, about you thinking I fancied Alea, which was really why I said _that_ to you." She cleared her throat awkwardly, not looking at him. "But you might have been - I mean you _were_ right about that, only I didn't realise it at the time."

Ben quashed his feeling of disappointment. That didn't matter. Now was the time to be a friend to Polly.

"You know I'm fine about that sort of thing, right?" he asked. "I told you before."

"Oh, I know," Polly said. "Thank you, Ben. But - I do like men, as well. Really. That was part of the reason I didn't realise until last night -"

Ben raised his eyebrows. "You mean you -"

"Yes," Polly said quickly. Almost defiantly, as if to say, _well why shouldn't I? It's nothing to be ashamed of._

"Oh."

"Mm."

"So how was it?" Ben asked cheerfully.

"Ben…"

"Okay, okay, I won't ask. Look, I have something to tell you as well." He paused. He'd never tried to put this into words before; he'd never had the opportunity for it, or even to dwell on it too much.

"Ben, I -"

"Look, I'm not - I'm not _gay_ , alright? I just - I'm not really a physical kind of bloke." He winced. Not the best way of describing it. "Okay, so if _you_ looked at a guy - or a girl - and you thought they looked nice…well I don't. I mean I don't look at anyone like that."

"You don't fancy anyone?"

"I fancy girls! Only not like _that_." It was hard to look tough while sitting on a bed, but he did his best anyway; his own turn to be defiant. "Not from their looks, you know?"

"So," Polly said slowly as this sunk in, leaning forward, "you _are_ interested?"

She smiled at him. Ben, looking at her, was overcome. He was glad that he'd told her - he couldn't imagine why he'd held it back so long. It wasn't a problem at all; she understood just what he was trying to say.

"Yeah, I'm interested," he told her. Then, to preserve some sense of his own dignity, "I mean - if you are."

Polly's smile widened.

"Ben," she said. "Of _course_ I am."

**Author's Note:**

> canon is fake and i don't care anyway so if anyone wants to know when exactly in season 4 this takes place the truth is that i have absolutely no idea and i just made a bunch of stuff up


End file.
